The Kipling Society is for everyone interested in the prose and verse, and life and times, of Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936).
Best selling poet, children's author, novelist, supreme master of the short story, he enriched the English language with more memorable quotations than any other writer of his time.

This is one of the most active and enduring literary societies in Britain and, as the only one which focuses on Kipling and his place in English Literature, attracts a world-wide membership.
The Society is a Registered Charity and a voluntary, non-profit-making organisation. Its activities, which are controlled by a Council, and run by the Secretary and honorary officials, include:

arranging a regular programme of lectures in London, and a formal Annual Luncheon with a distinguished guest speaker

running this web-site for members of the Society and anyone else around the world with an interest in the life and work of Rudyard Kipling

maintaining the Kipling Library at Haileybury College in Hertfordshire.

answering enquiries from the public (schools, publishers, writers and the media), and providing speakers on request.

Origins

THE KIPLING SOCIETY was founded in 1927 by J H C Brooking and a few fellow enthusiasts, including Kipling's school-friends Major General L C Dunsterville and G C Beresford, who featured in Stalky & Co. as "Stalky" and "M'Turk". The Society prospered, and soon attracted hundreds of members from all over the world.

If you wish to join you may be assured of a friendly welcome. Expert knowledge is certainly not needed. Most members simply share an enthusiasm for Kipling's writings and an interest in the times through which he lived.

For the basic annual subscription (£29 in the UK, £27 by Standing Order, see below for other rates) you will receive four quarterly issues of the Kipling Journal and access to the Members' pages of this web-site, including the archive of over 300 back-numbers of the Kipling Journal. If you are within reach of London, you may also attend the Society's regular meetings and other functions. If you are under 23, the basic annual UK subscription is only £14. Rates for members outside the UK have to include the extra postage and are:

Europe Airmail

£31 or €43

Rest of the World, Journal by surface mail

£31 or $48 US

Rest of the World, Journal by airmail

£35 or $54 US

You can pay your first subscription via PayPal directly from this site through this link. Alternatively, cheques are accepted made out to The Kipling Society and drawn on British banks in pounds, on US banks in dollars, or on European banks in euros.For other currencies please use a Bank Draft or a Bank Transfer in pounds sterling. Bank details for transfers are to be found on the back cover of the Kipling Journal.

If you are already a Member, click here to send in your proposed username and password of choice (6 to 8 characters each) for access to the Members' pages of this site.

In collaboration with staff and volunteers at Bateman’s, members of the Kipling Society will be reading selections of Kipling’s prose and poetry for 24 hours beginning at 2pm on Saturday 12 August. As well as his best loved stories and poems, the readings will include many less well-known poems and extracts from stories.

The event will also feature unusual recorded contributions, such as 'The Butterfly that Stamped' in Ukrainian, 'Mandalay' in Danish and in Mandarin, and 'The Deep-Sea Cables' recorded in the Australian outback.

The event will be streamed live on the internet via the Bateman's Facebook page. Please send any enquiries to jwawalker@gmail.com

Wednesday September 13th 2017 at 5.30 for 6.00 pm in the Mountbatten Room, Royal Oversas League. The speaker will be Dr Susie Paskins of Birkbeck College University of London, on "Creating the Lama, Kipling's encounters with Buddhism, and the writing of Kim."

Saturday September 23rd 2017 (11.00 am to 1.00 pm) A visit to the Kipling collection at the University of Sussex.

The collections include notebooks and sketchbooks, personal correspondence with monarchs and statesmen and they reveal almost every part of Kipling’s extraordinary career. Three generations of Kiplings are represented, as the Archive also contains papers relating to Rudyard’s father, John Lockwood Kipling, and his three children, Josephine, John and Elsie.

Please send any enquiries to jwawalker@gmail.com

Wednesday November 15th 2017 at 5.30 for 6.00 pm in the Mountbatten Room, Royal Oversas League. Dr Susie Paskins of Birkbeck College University of London, and Professor Jan Montefiore of the Univerity of Kent, on "Kipling the Storyteller and the Singing Voice."

This was a groundbreaking exhibition showing many pictures and artefacts never before displayed. It explores the life and work of Lockwood Kipling (1837-1911), Rudyard's father, author of Beast and Man in India and a distinguished teacher, curator and designer, who had a strong influence on his son's writings. Later in the year it will move to New York, and to India.

Kipling and George Orwell

Launched in 2011, The Orwell Society is a means by which anyone can become better acquainted with, and share their appreciation for, the life and work of George Orwell, one of the most original and influential voices in 20th Century literature, author of 1984, Animal Farm and The Road to Wigan Pier.

Rudyard Kipling was among his favourite writers, and he wrote about him on several occasions, notably in his review of T S Eliot's selection of Kipling's verse in 1941, collected in Kipling's Mind and Art, edited by Andrew Rutherford, (Oliver and Boyd, 1964).

This symposium Kipling in India: India in Kipling was held in Shimla on April 26-28, 2016, co-directed by Professors Harish Trivedi of Delhi University and Jan Montefiore of Kent University. It was a big success and we will be reporting on it shortly.

Rudyard Kipling
by Andrew Lycett. A new edition

Ever since its publication in 1999, Andrew Lycett's distinguished and deeply researched biography has been a standard work of reference for Kipling scholars and general readers alike.

This new paperback edition, with a new introduction by the author, was published on November 15th, in time for the 150th anniversary of Kipling's birth on December 30th. Copies are currently available from Amazon for £14.88.

Click here to order through the Society at a special disounted price for Kipling Society members.

Kipling and War
From 'Tommy' to 'My Boy Jack'.

A new anthology by Andrew Lycett.

Although Rudyard Kipling never fought, he was one of Britiain's foremost observers of and commentators on war. Through his writing, the voices of countless soldiers and the guns of many battles echo through the years and place Kipling firmly among the leading practitioners of 19th and 20th century war literature.

Currently available from www.ibtauris.com at £11.97 (+ p. & p.)

Kipling and the Sea
Voyages and Discoveries

Kipling wrote copiously about his own voyages - to India, across the Pacific and Atlantic, down to South Africa and Australia - and about the voyages of others. Sailors were particular heroes of his, as adventurers who braved every kind of element and danger to reach distant lands, as skilled engineers and navigators in the Merchant Service, or as trained men in the Royal Navy, safeguarding the Empire.

This collection, edited by Andrew Lycett, is available from I B Tauris to Kipling Society members at the special price of £13.96, via their website at http://bit.ly/1b0t0uG, quoting the code 9VL at the checkout stage.

Kipling Abroad, Traffics and Discoveries from Burma to Brazil

A new selection of his most descriptive and revealing travel writing, introduced and edited by Andrew Lycett, published on January 11th 2010 by I.B.Tauris.

A new collection edited by Jan Montefiore, which breaks new ground in Kipling scholarship. Contributors include Hugh Brogan, Dan Jacobson, Daniel Karlin and Bryan Cheyette.

After the perspectives of Chesterton (1905), Orwell (1942) and Jarrell (1960), newer contributions address Kipling's approach to the Boer war, his involvement with World War One, his Englishness and the politics of literary quotation. Different aspects of Kipling’s relation to India are explored, including the ‘Mutiny’, Eastern religions, his Indian travel writings and his knowledge of ‘the vernacular’

The book, published by Manchester University Press, is priced at £70, but until the end of February is available to members of the Kipling Society at £50. To order please email orders@nbninternational.com or call 01752 202301 quoting code OTH391, and your membership number.

Of over 1300 poems in this edition, over 500 have never before been collected, and 50 are previously unpublished. Every authorised version of the collected poems, from original periodical publication to the final edition in Kipling's lifetime, has been included to produce a full record of the author's additions, deletions and alterations.

A note to each poem provides a record of publication and, where possible, information about its occasion and context.

The Rudyard Kipling Society of Estonia is currently in formation. It is hoped that the society will be able to foster new interest in Kipling and open up unexplored avenues of scholarly research. The main focus will be on the life and writings of Rudyard Kipling, but the society will also have an interest in relevant comparative literature.

For more information please email James Baxenfield: james.baxenfield@gmail.com

Magdalene College Cambridge, with its close connection to Rudyard Kipling, offers a one-term Honorary Fellowship to a Kipling scholar. This provides accommodation and meals at the Fellows common table but no stipend. Candidates are expected to be established, but not necessarily senior, academics, researching a subject relating to Kipling.

Applications can be made directly to the President of the College (postcode Cambridge, CB3 0AG) The former Kipling Fellow, Jeffery Lewins (jl22@cam.ac.uk) will be glad to advise further.

Fred Lerner reports that Radio Nederland's program, "The State We're In", is broadcast on many public radio stations in the USA. A recent instalment, was called "Mightier than the Sword". It included an interview with "a former Afghan governor who uses the power of poetry to bring peace to warring factions". When asked his favorite poem, he recited (in English and from memory) "If—" .

Help for Heroes gives practical, direct support for soldiers wounded in recent wars.

In 2009 former Army Captain James Milton walked barefoot along the 130 mile pilgrim route from Winchester to Canterbury, to raise more than £4,000 for the charity. He served as an Army officer between 1998 and 2007, including three tours in Iraq.

He has written a series of soldier poems, which we are glad to be able to publish on this site. They echo his wide reading of Kipling, the ballad tradition, the belief that poems should be read aloud, and the black humour. You can contact James by email at jimilton_2000@yahoo.co.uk.

This new book by Richard Jaffa shows how at two key stages in his life, Kipling wrote of Freemasonry, not only for dramatic impact but as a source of spiritual comfort after the horrors of the Great War.

Richard Jaffa has been a Freemason for thirty years, and Master of four Lodges. For a copy of his book (£15 including P & P) you can write to him at 32 Malcolmson Close, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3LS, or email to RJaffa3266@aol.com.

Oak and Ash and Thorn

Folk Police Recordings are releasing an album on February 21st with a selection of artists from the current folk scene performing new versions of Peter Bellamy's settings of various of RK's poems from Puck of Pook's Hill and Rewards and Fairies.

The British Library has published a new edition of this timeless classic from the Just So Stories, together with "How the Camel Got His Hump", "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin" and "The Elephant's Child", price £7.95.

It is available on line from the British Library shop at 96 Euston Road, London NW, or enquire by phone to (020) 7412 7735, or by e-mail to bl-shop@bl.uk.

The American singer and song-writer Leslie Fish has set many of Kipling's poems to music, as you will see from Brian Mattinson's work on the musical settings of the verse.

You will find details of her latest albums on her web-site.
Spool down to 'enter here', click on 'BUY CD'S' in the sidebar, and if you spool down you will find details of her album "Cold Iron" which has fifteen of the poems set to music, and "Our Fathers of Old" with another fourteen.

ELT Press at Greensboro in North Carolina, publishers of the periodical English Literature in Transition, are bringing out two special issues to mark their fiftieth year, one of which (50:2,2007) includes a most interesting article by Lisa Lewis on "References", "Cross-references" and Notions of History in Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, and Rewards and Fairies, and another by Patrick Brantlinger on "The White Man's Burden".

If you would like a copy of these or other articles, contact The University of North Carolina, PO Box 26170, Greenboro NC 27402-6170, USA., or email to langenfeld@uncg.edu

Rajesh David is a singer and composer, trained in the Indian classical tradition. He learned "If—" as a young boy at school in Bombay, and was later inspired to compose this work, which blends Western orchestration with elements of Indian classical music.

This CD costs £6 (including p. & p.) within the UK and £6.50 abroad. Please contact Rajesh David at urbaneclipse@lycos.com

If you are interested, please contact them at 19 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JN, tel +44 (0) 20 7836 1979; or email to grosvenorprints@btinternet.com

A painting of Rottingdean

This painting (44 x 59 cm) in oils by Jean Farnsworth (1976), of Rottingdean, where Kipling lived before he moved to Bateman's, is available for sale at £330. If you are interested in acquiring it, please contact Mr H Boehm (phone 0115 9119746)

Rudyard Kipling A literary life, by Philip Mallett

This new, and well-regarded study is available from the web-site of Palgrave Macmillan. They are also offering the six volumes of Thomas Pinney's superbly edited "Letters of Rudyard Kipling", either singly or as a set.

Kipling's America

Between 1889 and 1895, while travelling in the United States, and - later - living in Vermont, Kipling wrote a number of letters and articles about America. In this new collection David Stewart brings them all together, in their original form, with an illuminating commentary.

A new and updated edition of this classic closely researched study by Toni and Valmai Holt has been published by Leo Cooper/Pen & Sword, at £12.95. It tells the sad tale of the life and early death on the battlefield of John Kipling, Rudyard Kipling's only son.

John Kipling's body was never found, but in 1992 the War Graves Commission announced that a grave in St Mary's Military Cemetery had been identified as his, and this view has been backed by the Ministry of Defence. As they explain in this fascinating book the Holts, who have gone into the story in great detail, remain sceptical about the official view.

Three new translations into Russian of works by Rudyard Kipling have just been published; "Actions and Reactions", "Traffics and Discoveries", and Captains Courageous. The translator is Captain Nikolai Tess, a Latvian by birth, educated there and in
Russia. They have been copiously annotated to explain some of the
'English-isms' and subtleties of Kipling's tales.
The print run has been limited, but copies may be obtained by
contacting Captain Nikolai Tess, 126 rue du General de Gaulle, 95620
Parmain, FRANCE; e-mail ntess@yahoo.com. The cost is €14.00, plus postage and packing.

A recent book edited by Professor Thomas Pinney and David Alan Richards, which publishes RK's magisterial letters to Thacker, Spink and Co between 1886 and 1890, is available from the Rivendale Press in High Wycombe, price £25.00 including p & p anywhere in the world. The letters demonstrate vividly the young RK's grasp of the technicalities of book production, his down to earth commercial instincts, and his early determination not to be done down by his publishers. To place an order you can phone Rivendale Press on +44 (0) 1494 562 266 or email them to sales@rivendalepress.com. You can also visit their web-site.

The two-sided Man

Following his selection of Kipling's poetry, The Surprising Mr Kipling, Brian Harris has produced a follow-up anthology of his short stories, The two-sided Man. .
Together with some of Kipling's finest tales, the book deals with the charges of racialism and imperialism that have been levelled against him, as well as his attitude towards politics and religion. Asked why we should read Kipling today. Brian Harris writes:

Kipling should be read for the same reasons we turn to any great writer, for the beauty, lucidity and force of his prose and for his perspicacity and insights. Here is someone who paid the respect that is due, but not always accorded even now, to the alien, the poor and the oppressed.

As the unofficial spokesman of the greatest empire in the history of the world he described accurately and sympathetically the lives of the peoples living under its jurisdiction. Though no orthodox believer, he prized and in his writings illustrated, the great Christian virtues of charity, compassion and forgiveness, as well as the more modest British virtue of toleration. Nor is it possible to read his stories without being surprised by the light they so often throw on the eternal mysteries of love, pain and loss.

Like The Surprising Mr Kipling, The two-sided Man is published by CreateSpace and is currently available from Amazon at £9.38 (+ p.&p.)

"Fringes of the Fleet", accompanied by the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Tom Higgins, contains rarely heard music by Elgar, as well as works by John Ansell, Haydn Wood and Edward German. v

For further information phone 020 8398 1586, email to sales@somm-recordings.com, or visit the SOMM web-site.

As Charles Carrington recounts (p. 214) in 1894, on holiday in Bermuda, Kipling chanced to meet a sergeant in the Royal Berkshire Regiment who carried him off to the sergeant's mess. This enabled Kipling to hear at first hand of the terrible Battle of Maiwand, fourteen years before, during the Second Afghan War, when
a wing of the regiment had been wiped out. Soon after, he wrote the grim ballad "That Day".

This book tells the story of this fine Victorian Regiment. Copies can be ordered from this website. It is currently (Jan 23 2009) available via Amazon price £17.74 inc. p&p.

1.
…They have no law. They are outcaste. They have no speech of their own but use the stolen words which they overhear when they listen, and peep, and wait up above in the branches. Their way is not our way. They are without leaders. They have no remembrance. They boast and chatter and pretend that they are a great people about to do great affairs in the jungle, but the falling of a nut turns their mind to laughter and all is forgotten…

2.
… In a raucous voice he cried aloud little matters, like the hope of Honour and the dream of Glory, that boys do not discuss even with their most intimate equals; cheerfully assuming that, till he spoke, they had never considered these possibilities. He pointed them to shining goals, with finger which smudged out all radiance on all horizons. He profaned the most secret places of their souls with outcries and gesticulations. He bade them consider the deeds of their ancestors in such fashion that they were flushed to their tingling ears…

3.
…he stamped his foot. 'Tell them' he cried, 'that if a hair of any one of their heads is touched by any official on any account whatever, all England shall ring with it. Good God ! What callous oppression ! The dark places of the earth are full of cruelty.' He wiped his face, and throwing out his arms cried: 'Tell them, oh ! tell the poor serfs not to be afraid of me. Tell them I come to redress their wrongs - not, heaven knows, to add to their burden. ' The long-drawn gurgle of the practised public speaker pleased them much…
.

For the sources of these extracts click here

If you would like to suggest other quotations for this feature, click here

Harvey's Literary Tours are running six-day tours of "Landscapes that inspired Literature", including a visit to Westward Ho! the scene of Kipling's schooldays at USC.

For the first tour, starting on April 21st, they are offering a special discount of £300 per couple plus £100 for members of the Kipling Society. For details contact Ross Harvey (harvey@literary-tours.com).

This very successful international conference on Kipling studies was organised by the School of English at the University of Kent on September 7th and 8th 2007 to mark the centenary of Kipling's Nobel Prize for Literature. It was directed by Dr Jan Montefiore, author of a new study of Kipling;s writings, and sponsored by the Society.Click here for abstracts of the papers given.

The Kipling plaque at U.S.C.

This plaque at 'Kipling Terrace' in Westward Ho!, dating from 1953, commemorating Kipling's time at United Services College, had become obscured by ivy and undergrowth. It was rediscovered by members of the local History Group, and has now been refurbished, thanks to a grant from Northam Town Council.

This recent biography of Kipling, published by Haus Books in 2005, is by Jad Adams, who addressed the Kipling Society on April 11th. It has been well received: 'an important study of one of England's literary heroes' (Financial Times), 'admirable' (Spectator), 'a short and enjoyably confrontational biography' (The Times).

Kipling and the Swastika

(A Ganesha plaque by Lockwood Kipling)

There has been a lively correspondence on the Kipling Mailbase discussion group about Kipling's use of the Swastika. You may be interested in taking a look at Michael Smith's article on the subject on this site.

The New Readers' Guide

Work is in progress on a new Readers' Guide to the works of Rudyard Kipling, which can be found on this site. The project is a great collective endeavour by Kipling scholars and specialists around the world, and is well advanced. We hope that the new Guide will be interesting and helpful to Kipling readers old and new.

Larkhall Fine Art are offering an original impression of this rare 1897 portrait by William Nicholson, printed from the original woodblock and hand-coloured by the artist. (Ref: Campbell 23A & 67A) It is signed in ink on the original backing board.

A new paperback edition of Barrack-room Ballads has recently been published in Signet Classics with an new Introduction and Annotation by Andrew Lycett.
(ISBN 0-451-52886-7)

Un Taureau intelligent...et autres contes cruels

Readers who are interested in foreign language translations of Kipling may like to see a new collection translated by Max Rives, who has been translating Kipling stories into French for many years. It is called "Un Taureau Intelligent" ("The Bull that Thought") and also includes "L'homme qui voulait être roi", "Mary Postgate", "Petit Tobrah", and L'aurore maltraité".

The publisher is Actes Sud, and the ISBN number 2-7427-4471-1

'The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling' by David Gilmour

This recent (March 2002) study of Kipling's life, by David Gilmour, the acclaimed biographer of Lord Curzon, studies the public role of the man who so embodied the spirit of the British Empire.

Some reviewers' comments on David Gilmour's book

Andrew Lycett wrote in the Sunday Times:
'His meat is in his brilliant teasing-out of the political content in Kipling's fiction, verse, letters and other pronouncements...Along with his effortless command of his material, Gilmour impresses as a stylist: always to the point, able to sum up a verse or a character in a sentence.'

Tom Paulin wrote in The Times Literary Supplement:
'... The Long Recessional is an important act of cultural reclamation, which ought to bring readers back to the Kipling canon...'

Andrew Roberts wrote in the Mail on Sunday:
'...This beautifully written, touching, and occasionally very funny book is far more than an apology for the greatest phrase-maker in the English tongue since Shakespeare. It is a chivalrous yet scholarly rescue of a great man's reputation...Gilmour has gently taken the old boy by the elbow and helped him up on his rightful pedestal, carefully slipping the laureate's crown back upon that balding scalp. '

Kipling's 'Selected Poetry', edited by Craig Raine

Penguin have re-issued the Modern Classics edition of Kipling's Selected Poetry, which was first published in 1990. In his Introduction Craig Raine helps the reader to reassess RK's use of imagery, rhythm and sound, giving us less of the patriot and more of the poet.

The Indian Railway Library Facsimiles at bargain prices!

Roger Ayers writes:
Between 1986 and 1988, the R.S. Surtees Society, which publishes facsimiles of books by and about R.S. Surtees and his world, produced a set of reprints of the first six Kipling books to appear in A.H. Wheeler’s Indian Railway Library. These were some of the very first paperbacks ever to be published.

These reprints, made with the agreement of Macmillan, were advertised at the time as being ‘as nearly as practicable’ facsimiles of the first Indian Editions and were bound in grey-green wrappers bearing the well-known cover illustrations of the originals. In fact, they were not all copied from first editions, or even Indian Editions, and some include English advertisements from Sampson, Low, Marston & Company editions. A further departure from the originals was the inclusion of illustrations by A.S.Hartrick from the 1896 edition of Soldier Stories in Soldiers Three and Wee Willie Winkie and the poem "Danny Deever" in Soldiers Three.

However, the books are very close to the originals and, as a bonus, Philip Mason, author of Rudyard Kipling, The Glass, the Shadow and the Fire, wrote an introduction to each book specially for this set of reprints.

They can now be found in second-hand bookshops, sometimes priced at £5 to £8, but the R.S.Surtees Society still has some available at 1986 - 1988 prices! These are:

Soldiers Three £2.95
The Story of the Gadsbys £2.95
In Black and White £3.75
Under the Deodars £3.75
The Phantom Rickshaw and Other Eerie Tales £3.75
Wee Willie Winkle and other tales £3.75
Set of all 6 Indian Railway Library reprints £18.00

For UK and European Community by surface mail please add 15% to your order, for all other destinations by surface mail please add 25% to your order. Air Mail or special delivery prices on application. Tel (in UK): 01373 836937

Payment must be made in Sterling, either by cheque drawn on a U.K. bank or by International Money Order. Please send the order, together with your cheque/money order made payable to 'The R. S. Surtees Society', to: The R. S. Surtees Society, Manor Farm House, Nunney, Nr. Frome, Somerset, BA11 4NJ, ENGLAND.

Rudyard Kipling's mother was one of the four remarkable Macdonald sisters, all of whom made their mark at the turn of the 19th century. Georgiana and Agnes married, respectively, Edward Burne-Jones and Edward Poynter. Louisa was the mother of Stanley Baldwin, later Prime-Minister. Alice was the mother of Rudyard Kipling.

Judith Flanders' study of the sisters has been highly praised. Jan Morris calls it 'a terrific book ... a pageant-like exhibition of Victorian artistic and middle-class life.' Roy Porter comments that it is a revelation: '(it) blows away all the tired platitudes about Victorian women'. Hilary Mantel comments that 'Judith Flanders recreates their inner and outer worlds with wit, sympathy, and insight'.

'A Circle of Sisters' has just been published by Viking in hardback.

Kipling's Forgotten Sister

A new collection of previously unpublished writings by Kipling's sister Trix, by Lorna Lee has been published.

Peter Crisp, the Australian folk-singer and musician, writes; 'I was seven years old when my father walked into my bedroom, which I shared with my brother. He hammered a nail in the bedroom door, hung a framed poem on the nail and walked out without saying a word. The poem was 'If..', the same one given to him as a young man. It hung there in our thoughts and was constantly quoted by my father over the years until we left home as young men. I am now married with two young boys and they now have 'If..' hanging on their door'.

Peter has included a musical arrangement of 'If..' on a CD he has recently released. This is available at a price of $AU25.00 (approx £8.70) If you wish to order a copy, please email Peter at robontheknob@ozemail.com.au.

In 1891, the 25-year-old Rudyard Kipling, newly risen into world fame, spent two weeks in Australia, mostly in Melbourne, where he was received with all the curiosity and interest due to a celebrity. What he did in those two weeks, what he thought and said to his hosts, where he went, how he was treated, and what the Australians thought about it all, is fully presented in this account.

The book is edited by Rosalind Kennedy and Thomas Pinney , and is available from Amazon, or your local bookstore.

RK's poems on cassette.

Michael Smith has drawn our attention to a selection from RK's verse on audio cassette at the very reasonable price of £3.99. There is a linking commentary, placing the poems in a biographical context. You can order the cassette through the Postscript web-site, quoting the code-number 18717.

This striking 'If..' poster has been produced by Stewart Superior Europe Ltd, who specialise in high quality original prints. It is available in A4 (21 x 30 cm) for £5.75 or A2 (42 x 60 cm) for £11.15, unframed.

This CD, published by The National Trust, includes extracts from The Jungle Book, Something of Myself, Kim and The Just So Stories, as well as a number of poems including If-, Danny Deever, The Way Through the Woods, Cities and Thrones and Powers, Minesweepers and My Boy Jack.
The CD is available from National Trust shops, price £9.99, or enquire at Droffig Recordings Ltd., (020 8444 5819 fax 020 8442 1005)

This web-site

The web-site continues to be popular, with over a million visitors since we launched in February 1999.

In the 'Readers' Guide' section of the site, you will find a growing body of notes and explanations on Kipling's writings, updated daily as we complete new entries for the New Readers' Guide on Rudyard Kipling's Works.

Staying in Naulakha

A correspondent has reminded us that RK's house in Vermont can be rented by holidaymakers. It has four dounle bedrooms, and has been restored to a high standard.

This conference was held from 5th-7th September 2001, a century after the publication of Kim, at Magdalene College Cambridge, where RK was an Honorary Fellow. There were four major themes, Kipling: a post-colonial assessment, Kipling and women, Kipling and film, and Kipling in translation.

This unusual non-literary biography discloses the man behind the name and its 'received' image; reveals why he wrote so compellingly about the sea and ships; had a love affair with steam and motive power, and became a pioneer motorist at the turn of the century.'

IMDb has 14 pages on films based on RK's works, starting with 'The Vampire' in 1910, and lists the videos of them available in the UK and USA. It's a bit dodgy on Kipling's biography but the film details are most interesting, giving details down to the original cast in some cases.

Just So Stories on CD

A new, and very engaging, recording of the Just So Stories is available on two CDs, narrated by Michael Ducarel. It can be ordered from him by telephone on 0845 456 1052 (in the UK only), by email through michael.ducarel@ducarel.co.uk, or by letter to 14B Kennington Oval, London SE11 5SG.
The price for the two-disc set, including P&P, is £15.00 within the UK, and £16.00 abroad; cheques should be drawn on a UK bank and will only be presented once the CD is sent out.

To make your first membership payment click here You will also need to register your details:

Two CD's of soldier songs of the Boer War and Great War are now available from ABC Classics in Australia including 21 original settings of the Barrack-Room Ballads performed by baritone Michael Halliwell and pianist David Miller.